What is your favorite all-time Falcons draft pick?

WILL McFADDEN: In terms of the player I’m most excited the Falcons added in my lifetime, it’s got to be Michael Vick. Easy. But my favorite all-time draft pick is a different selection, and it’s for purely sentimental reasons.

Back in 2005, when the NFL Draft consisted of just two days and the first-round began at noon, ET, I was in the middle of the north Georgia wilderness with my dad on a Boy Scout camping trip. As the sun began its slow ascent and warmed the frosty morning mountain air, the first round ticked away. Having reached the NFC Championship game in 2004, the Falcons weren’t on the clock until pick No. 27.

That left plenty of time for my dad and me to debate with the other scouts (not the front-office kind) and chaperones gathered around the campfire which players and positions Atlanta should target. Should they add another defensive linemen in the first round? (The more things change…) Should they give Keith Brooking an athletic running mate or continue to add valuable depth on the offensive line? We went through all of these scenarios up until the moment NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s voice crackled over our small radio to announce that the Atlanta Falcons were on the clock.

The player they selected: Roddy White, a small-school receiver out of the University of Alabama-Birmingham. There was some collective disgruntlement as we all lamented the Falcons not selecting some player who had undoubtedly been mocked to Atlanta once or twice in the months leading up to the draft. While White’s career didn’t get off to the smoothest start, I think it’s fair to say it all worked out in the end. From our ring around the campfire to the Falcons Ring of Honor, White provided some unforgettable memories in the red and black.

At the very least, it gave me a moment I’ll always remember. Shout out to father-son camping trips.